The right to health and access to medicine
How the law secures safe medicine for the public, from pandemic supply to the trade in counterfeit drugs.
Ife Business Law Review, 2021. Management and Industrial Law Journal, 2019. RUN Law Journal, 2022.
Professor of Law and Bioethics, University of Ibadan
Jadesola
Lokulo-Sodipe
Law is one of the most effective tools available for protecting human dignity in medicine and research.
Her scholarship brings together health law, bioethics, intellectual property and human rights, with a particular focus on the right to health and the protection of patients and research participants.
Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria
1997
Joined the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan
30+
Scholarly publications and research resources
60+
Master of Laws dissertations supervised, alongside more than 200 undergraduate long essays
3
Countries where she has presented research: Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa
About
Professor Jadesola Oyetoro Lokulo-Sodipe has taught at the University of Ibadan since 1997, where she is Professor of Law and Bioethics in the Department of Commercial and Industrial Law. She is a faculty member of the University’s Centre for Bioethics and Research, and served as External Examiner to the Faculty of Law at Cavendish University Uganda from 2023 to 2025.
Her early scholarship was in company and commercial law: mergers and acquisitions, investor protection and insider dealing. A concern for the individuals whose rights and interests the law is intended to protect ran through that work, and by 2009 she was writing on the rights of surgical patients and the victims of medical error. A scholarship from the United States National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Centre and the National Human Genome Research Institute supported her developing work in bioethics in 2008. Her doctoral thesis, Drug Counterfeiting and the Right to Health in Nigeria, brought the two traditions together.
Her work now centres on the right to health and the legal protection of patients and research participants, including access to medicine, organ transplantation tourism, data protection in biomedical research and the governance of genome editing.
Degrees
- PhD, Law, University of Ibadan, 2019
- MSc, Bioethics, University of Ibadan, 2011
- LLM, Corporate and Commercial Law, King’s College London, 1990
- BL, Nigerian Law School, 1991
- LLB, University of East London, 1989
- BA (Hons), History, University of Maiduguri, 1986
Professional training
- Executive Course on Promoting Access to Medical Technologies and Innovation, WIPO, WHO and WTO, 2022
- Advanced Course on Copyright and Related Rights, WIPO, 2022
- Advanced Course on Arbitration and Mediation under the WIPO Rules, 2016
- Diploma in Health Research Ethics, West African Bioethics, 2007
Research
Six lines of enquiry, each asking what Nigerian law does for the people most exposed in healthcare and biomedical research.
Research ethics governance
The legal framework for biomedical research in Nigeria and the protection of vulnerable participants, including neonates.
TRREE for Africa, 2010 and 2023. Management and Industrial Law Journal, 2018.
Patients’ rights and qualitative healthcare
The legal standing of patients in Nigerian hospitals, from surgical consent to detention for unpaid bills.
Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution, 2009. Book chapter, 2011. ISTEAMS Conference, University of Ghana, 2019.
Organ transplantation and medical tourism
Cross-border care, the recipient’s right to qualitative healthcare, and the obligations of the brokers who arrange it.
Open Access Library Journal, 2022. University of Ibadan and University of Bristol workshop paper, 2025.
Genome editing
The ethical, socio-cultural and legal questions human genome editing raises in a Nigerian setting.
Kampala International University Law Journal, 2023, with Omolade Olomola.
Intellectual property, health and innovation
Where private rights in knowledge meet the public interest, in biotechnology, indigenous knowledge and sustainable fashion.
University of Ibadan Journal of Public and International Law, 2017. Book chapter, 2018. Journal of Private and Business Law, 2024.
Conference paper, article in preparation
Unheard Voices: Consent, Capacity, and the Legal Protection of Paediatric Clinical Trial Participants under Nigerian and UK Laws
A comparative study of how Nigerian and UK law protect children who take part in clinical trials. Presented at the AMHLPA Annual International Conference, University of Lagos, July 2026.
Article in preparation
The Silent Witness: Corroboration, Medico-Legal Evidence and the Protection of Vulnerable Victims of Abuse across the Lifespan in Nigeria
How Nigerian evidence law and forensic documentation shape the protection of children, spouses and older people who suffer abuse. Developed from her contribution to AMHLPA Webinar Series 4.
Article in preparation
The Aisle Is Not a Ward: Confidentiality and Patient Dignity in In-Flight Medical Emergencies
How law protects the privacy and dignity of passengers who receive medical care in flight, and where Nigerian and international frameworks leave gaps. Developed from her contribution to AMHLPA Webinar Series 5, October 2026.
Research in progress
Data protection in biomedical research in Nigeria
A critical analysis of whether Nigerian law adequately guarantees the confidentiality that ethical research requires. Data collection is complete and analysis is under way.
Conference paper, developing towards a journal article
Regulating Nigeria’s Medical Tourism Brokers: Ethical Obligations and Legal Enforcement
First presented at the University of Ibadan and University of Bristol Children’s Medical Tourism Network workshop in October 2025.
A resource used across Africa
Legal Basis for Research Ethics Governance in Nigeria
A compilation of the laws that regulate biomedical research in Nigeria, written for researchers, ethics committees and policymakers. She co-developed the original modules in 2010 and contributed to the updated edition in 2023. The resource is hosted by Training and Resources in Research Ethics Evaluation (TRREE) for Africa, on an e-learning platform based in Switzerland.
2010, Modules 1 to 3, with S.O. Akintola and C.A. Adebamowo
2023, Updated edition, with D.A. Akinpelu and S.O. Akintola
Visit TRREE for Africa
From company law to the right to health
Her recorded publications and scholarly resources from 2002 to 2024, tracing the development of her research from company and commercial law to the right to health. Each block is one work. Select a block to read its details, or choose a field to highlight it.
Scroll sideways to see every year.
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Health law and bioethics
Organ Transplantation Tourism: Upholding the Donee’s Right to Qualitative Health Care
Read publicationView all publications (34)
- 2002Legal Framework of Mergers and Acquisitions in Nigeria
- 2006The Investment and Securities Act 1999 as an Instrument for Investor Protection
- 2008Winding-up and Striking-off of Companies: Problems of Implementation
- 2009An Examination of the Legal Rights of Surgical Patients under the Nigerian Laws
- 2009Regulating Insider Dealing: The Nigerian Experience
- 2009Who Is the Victim? The Effect of Medical Errors on Physicians and Patients
- 2010Appropriate Curriculum for the 21st Century Lawyer
- 2010Withholding Treatment from Disabled Newborns and its Effect on the Right to Life in Nigeria
- 2010Shareholders’ Participation in the Affairs of Public Companies: An Insight
- 2010Pre-Employment HIV/AIDS Test: An Emerging Trend of Discrimination in Nigeria
- 2010Legal Basis for Research Ethics Governance in Nigeria, Modules 1 to 3
- 2011Discharged but Detained: Analysis of an Aspect of Patient Rights in Nigeria
- 2011The Role of the Nigerian Police and the Protection of Citizens’ Right to Life and Human Dignity in Nigeria
- 2012Legal Issues Concerning Euthanasia in Nigeria: A Call for Law Reform
- 2012Some Relevant Issues in Small Business Management in Nigeria
- 2013Labour Migration: Challenges to Health and Human Rights Preservation
- 2013The Quest for a Supranational Entity in West Africa: Can the Economic Community of West African States Attain the Status?
- 2017Private Good versus Public Interest: Conflict of Interests in Intellectual Property Rights in Health and Biotechnology
- 2018Copyright Issues in Indigenous Knowledge
- 2018Protection of Medical Personnel and Voluntary Staff in Armed Conflict
- 2018Legal and Ethical Concerns in Biomedical Research Involving Neonates
- 2018Combating Drug Counterfeiting Using Technology in Nigeria
- 2019Law as a Tool for Combating Drug Counterfeiting in Nigeria
- 2019The Right to Qualitative Health Care in Nigeria: A Quest for Law Reform
- 2019Legal Issues and Insurance in Business: Nigerian Legal and Commercial Realities
- 2021The Right to Health in a Pandemic: Ensuring Access to Medicine in Nigeria
- 2021Legal and Contemporary Issues on Covid-19 in Nigeria
- 2022Organ Transplantation Tourism: Upholding the Donee’s Right to Qualitative Health Care
- 2022COVID-19 and the Right to Health and Drug Counterfeiting in Nigeria
- 2022Stakeholder Engagement in Post-Covid-19: Recovery Strategies by Companies
- 2023Law and Bioethics as Tools for Human Right Protection in Nigeria
- 2023Ethical and Socio-Cultural Dimension of Human Genome Editing: War Against Natural Order
- 2023Legal Basis for Research Ethics Governance in Nigeria, Updated Edition
- 2024Upcycling: Intellectual Property Rights and Legal Implications of Transforming Waste into Sustainable Fashion Products in Nigeria
Teaching
Nearly three decades in the lecture room at Ibadan, from contract and company law to bioethics and global health. She has supervised more than 60 Master of Laws dissertations and over 200 undergraduate long essays.
Postgraduate
- BTH 709Law and Bioethics2010 to present
- LPB 711/712Comparative Copyright Law I and II2009 to present
- LPB 701/702Law of Labour Relations I and II2022 to present
- GLH 701Globalisation, Ethics and Global Health2017 to 2021
- MIK 708Copyright Issues in Indigenous Knowledge2012 to 2015
Undergraduate
- LPB/LCI 501/502Law of Business Associations I and II2002 to present
- LCI 505/506Nigerian Labour Law I and II2005 to present
- ENT 211Entrepreneurship and Innovation2025 to present
- GES 301Introduction to Entrepreneurial Skills2013 to present
- ETR 301Basic Entrepreneurship and Innovation2013 to present
- LPB 503/504Law of Banking and Insurance I and II2002 to 2003
- LPB 403/404Equity and Trusts I and II1997 to 2001
- LPB 201/202Law of Contract I and II1997 to 2006
Teaching physicians
Since 2011 she has been a resource person on the West African College of Physicians Course in Medical Ethics, teaching Legal Issues in Medical Practice to doctors across the region.
Engagement and service
Recent speaking
- Oct 2026
The Aisle Is Not a Ward: Confidentiality and Patient Dignity in In-Flight Medical Emergencies
- Aug 2026
Child Abuse, Domestic Violence and Elder Abuse: Forensic Examination and Court Testimony
- Jul 2026
Unheard Voices: Consent, Capacity, and the Legal Protection of Paediatric Clinical Trial Participants Under Nigerian and UK Laws
- Oct 2025
Regulating Nigeria’s Medical Tourism Brokers: Ethical Obligations and Legal Enforcement
- Apr 2023
Ethical and Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Human Genome Editing: War Against Natural Order
- Oct 2022
Stakeholders Engagement in Post-Covid-19 Recovery Strategies by Companies
- Jul 2019
The Right to Qualitative Health Care in Nigeria: A Quest for Law Reform
Academic and institutional service
- Faculty member, Centre for Bioethics and Research, University of Ibadan since 2010
- Member, University of Ibadan Intellectual Property Policy Committee since 2011
- Staff Adviser, Intellectual Property and Technology Law Club since 2018
- External Examiner, Faculty of Law, Cavendish University Uganda 2023 to 2025
- Acting Head, Department of Commercial and Industrial Law 2015 to 2016
- Acting Head, Department of Private and Business Law 2013 to 2015
- Member, Social Science and Humanities Research Ethics Committee 2015 to 2019
- Member, UI-UCH Research Ethics Committee 2013 to 2015
- Sub-Dean (Undergraduate), Faculty of Law 1998 to 2002
Member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and the West African Research and Innovation Management Association.
For organisers
Biographies and a professional photograph for conference programmes, speaker introductions and event materials.
Short biography (about 50 words)
Professor Jadesola Lokulo-Sodipe is Professor of Law and Bioethics at the University of Ibadan. Her research examines patients’ rights, access to medicine, research ethics governance and intellectual property in health. She holds a PhD in Law and is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Full biography (about 150 words)
Professor Jadesola Oyetoro Lokulo-Sodipe is Professor of Law and Bioethics in the Department of Commercial and Industrial Law at the University of Ibadan, where she has taught since 1997. She is also a faculty member of the University’s Centre for Bioethics and Research.
Her scholarship examines the right to health, patients’ rights, research ethics governance, access to medicine, drug counterfeiting, organ transplantation tourism and intellectual property in health. Earlier work addressed company and commercial law, including mergers and acquisitions and investor protection.
She co-developed the original TRREE for Africa modules on the legal basis for research ethics governance in Nigeria in 2010 and contributed to the updated edition in 2023.
She holds a PhD in Law and an MSc in Bioethics from the University of Ibadan, and has supervised more than 60 Master of Laws dissertations. She is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Contact
For research collaboration, speaking invitations, external examination and consultation on health law, bioethics and intellectual property.
Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
Email contact@jadesolals.com
Profiles on Google Scholar and ORCID